| "Little Lion Man" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single by Mumford & Sons | ||||
| from the album Sigh No More | ||||
| Released | 11 August 2009[1] | |||
| Format | CD single, Digital Download | |||
| Recorded | 2009 | |||
| Genre | Folk rock, indie folk | |||
| Length |
4:06 (album version) 3:30 (radio edit) |
|||
| Label | Island, Glassnote (US) | |||
| Producer | Markus Dravs | |||
| Mumford & Sons singles chronology | ||||
|
||||
"Little Lion Man" is the debut single by London folk quartet Mumford & Sons released from their debut album, Sigh No More. It was released in the UK 11 August 2009.
The single was ranked in first place in Triple J's Hottest 100 of 2009, an Australian music poll and the largest in the world with over 800,000 votes cast in total. It won by the largest ever margin in the history of the competition.[2]
The song was nominated for Best Rock Song for the 53rd Grammy Awards.[3][4]
In October 2011, NME placed it at number 43 on its list "150 Best Tracks of the Past 15 Years".[5]
The song does not include a Parental Advisory warning despite the word "fuck" being included in each repetition of the chorus. In some radio edits the word "messed" is used in place of "fucked"; in others, the word "fucked" is removed.
Contents |
Frontman Marcus Mumford has said about the song:
"It’s a very personal story, so I won’t elaborate upon too much. Suffice to say, it was a situation in my life I wasn’t very happy with or proud of… and sometimes when you can’t describe a feeling with your own words, it’s almost easier to express in a song. And then, when you get asked about the songs, it’s quite difficult to explain. It’s a conundrum — you don’t want to seem self-indulgent explaining yourself; it’s always awkward. Which is weird again, because it’s never awkward actually singing them. I suppose the song should stand on its own and people draw their own interpretation from the words. But for me, personally, it’s the lyrics that I listen to again and again in a song. I place specific importance on them. I can’t write lyrics unless I really feel them and mean them, which can sometimes be quite frustrating — because if you’re not feeling much at the time, you’re stuck. I guess the sound of it grabs you a little bit by the balls — it’s quite an aggressive song, a bit more of a punch in the face. Or at least, for our stuff, anyway — a lot of our stuff isn’t quite as hard-hitting as that. It felt like the right song to be the single because it represented the harder, darker side of what we do, and at the same time, the more folksy and punchy side.”[6]
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Little Lion Man" | 4:06 |
| 2. | "To Darkness" | 4:42 |
| 3. | "Little Lion Man (Disco Mike 2011 Remode)" |
| title 1 = Disco Mike Big Room Mix | length 1 = 8:22
"Little Lion Man" first debuted on the UK Singles Chart on 20 September 2009 at number 72. The following week the single climbed eleven places to number 61. On 4 October 2009, the single climbed to number 47, before climbing into the Top 40 at a current peak of number 24 on its fourth week in the chart. The single fell ten places to number 34 before falling to number 47 on 25 October 2009, meaning it only spent two weeks within the Top 40. The song found its biggest success in Australia, debuting at number 23 in October before eventually reaching a peak of number 3 in February 2010.
In the US, "Little Lion Man" entered the Billboard Hot 100 chart dated 28 August 2010, when it debuted at #98. It has since reached #61 but has re-entered at #45 after a performance at the Grammys. It has now sold over 1,000,000 digital copies there.[8]
| Charts (2009–2010)[9] | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australia (ARIA)[10] | 3 |
| Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 75)[11] | 70 |
| Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[12] | 4 |
| Belgium (Ultratop 40 Wallonia)[13] | 39 |
| Canada (Canadian Hot 100)[14] | 59 |
| Ireland (IRMA)[15] | 19 |
| Netherlands (Mega Single Top 100)[16] | 41 |
| New Zealand (RIANZ)[17] | 9 |
| UK Singles (The Official Charts Company)[18] | 24 |
| US Billboard Hot 100[19] | 45 |
| US Alternative Songs (Billboard)[20] | 1 |
| US Rock Songs (Billboard)[21] | 3 |
| US Adult Pop Songs (Billboard)[22] | 16 |
| Charts (2010) | Position |
|---|---|
| Australian Singles Chart[23] | 46 |
| UK Singles Chart[24] | 173 |
| Year | Organization | Award | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 2010 MTV Video Music Awards | Best Cinematography in a Video | Nominated |
| 2011 | 53rd Grammy Awards | Best Rock Song | Nominated |
|
|||||||||||||||||